CIEE Global Institute

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1 CIEE Global Institute Course name: Politics of Religion Course number: (GI) RELI 2001 / POLI 2001 PAFR Programs offering course: Open Campus Open Campus track: International Relations and Political Science Language of instruction: English U.S. semester credits: 3 Contact hours: 45 Term: Spring 2019 Course Description This course examines the relationship between church, religion and state, evaluating a comprehensive range of thematic approaches in the politics of religion. Where evidence, both current and historical, suggests a relationship between religion and morality, this course will review how religious morality informs the politics of the state, and how some societies are moving towards popular and populist notions of civic morality. Through the contrast between civic and religious morality, students will explore case studies in France (widening the focus to Europe) on issues such as homosexuality, contraceptives, abortion, legitimate and illegitimate violence, the role of women in society, and the significance of rational thought in the sciences. Learning Objectives By the end of the course, students will be in a position to: Critically evaluate readings from the course Independently source and verify additional and relevant sources of information Develop and deliver complex arguments on highly sensitive issues Articulate the distinction between morality and religion Improve academic writing and presentation skills Enhance intercultural awareness and communication competencies. Course Prerequisites None. Methods of Instruction Among other techniques, the methodology used throughout this course will include: teacher presentations with student-teacher dialogue and discussion; active

2 discussion in which students will be expected to prepare presentations to argue a specific case and defend it to an opponent and the class, or to introduce an issue of interest to them and lead a group discussion around it. Students will also attend site visits, special events, and guest lectures. They are expected to take copious notes of readings, lectures and out-of-class activities to be potentially used for course assignments, including their final essay. Rules for citation and referencing apply. Assessment and Final Grade Quizzes (x 3) 20% Case study (x 1) 20% Presentation 20% Final Exam 20% Class Participation 20% Course Requirements Quizzes (x 3) During the block, students will be regularly assessed on their mastery of key notions, ideas and issues covered primarily in the required readings. Quizzes will consist of multiple-choice and short answer / paragraph questions to gauge the students progress through the course. Case study Students will write a short paper (600 words, +/- 10%) about a specific notion or concrete case. The essay will be well-structured, informative and precise. Students will share this document with their classmates and present it briefly during class. Presentation Students deliver a presentation in pairs during the course. Each presentation should be about 15 minutes, be concise yet comprehensive, and show both a good understanding of the selected topic as well as the ability to put it into perspective. Students should bring an outline of the presentation for sharing with the class, either in print form to be handed out or as a PowerPoint file to be screened. Each presentation is followed by a discussion (5-10 mn) moderated by the two students in charge of the presentation. The professor is available to help finding the right sources for the assignment. Each student will also be evaluated on his/her involvement in the discussion or debate following the presentation of a case study or topic. Grading will be based on knowledge (opinions should be informed) and preparation as demonstrated in the relevance of interventions. This involvement in post-presentation discussion or debate will be graded as

3 part of the weekly participation. Final Exam Students will take a final exam at the end of the course. The exam will be structured like the three quizzes. It will be longer (1 hour) and cumulative, assessing the knowledge and understanding of the material studied in the entire course (classes 1 to 11). A session of methodology and review will be held to prepare for this exam. Class Participation Participation is valued as meaningful contribution in the digital and tangible classroom, utilizing the resources and materials presented to students as part of the course. Meaningful contribution requires students to be prepared in advance of each class session and to have regular attendance. Students must clearly demonstrate they have engaged with the materials as directed, for example, through classroom discussions, online discussion boards, peer-to-peer feedback (after presentations), interaction with guest speakers, and attentiveness on co-curricular and outside-of-classroom activities. Besides the quality of attention and active involvement in class (asking for clarifications or explanations from professor or peers, asking questions or raising issues) and participation in the post-presentation Q & A (see above), student participation includes posting a weekly response on the course blog (5 lines in answer to a question raised by the professor). Course Attendance and Punctuality Regular class attendance is required throughout the program, and all unexcused absences* will result in a lower participation grade for any affected CIEE course. Due to the intensive schedules for Open Campus and Short Term programs, unexcused absences that constitute more than 10% of the total course will result in a written warning. *Students who transfer from one CIEE class to another during the add/drop period will not be considered absent from the first session(s) of their new class, provided they were marked present for the first session(s) of their original class. Otherwise, the absence(s) from the original class carry over to the new class and count against the grade in that class. For CIEE classes, excessively tardy (over 15 minutes late) students will be marked absent. Attendance policies also apply to any required co-curricular class excursion or event*, as well as to Internship, Service Learning, or required field placement. *With the exception that some class excursions cannot accommodate any tardiness, and students risk being marked as absent if they fail to be present at the appointed time.

4 Students who miss class for personal travel, including unforeseen delays that arise as a result of personal travel, will be marked as absent and unexcused. No make-up or re-sit opportunity will be provided. An absence in a CIEE course will only be considered excused if: a doctor s note is provided a CIEE staff member verifies that the student was too ill to attend class satisfactory evidence is provided of a family emergency Unexcused absences will lead to the following penalties: Percentage of Total Course Hours Missed Equivalent Number of Open Campus Semester classes Minimum Penalty Up to 10% 1 Reduction of participation grade 10 20% 2 Reduction of participation grade; written warning More than 20% 3 Automatic course failure, and possible expulsion Weekly Schedule NOTE: this schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor to take advantage of current experiential learning opportunities. Week 1 What is religion? Session 1.1 Introduction: Faith and the sacred Suggested reading : Bataille, Georges. Inner Experience, p Session 1.2 Religion and its shifting nature Methodology (1): how to put together and deliver a compelling oral presentation.

5 Required Reading : Casanova, José. The Secular and Secularisms, pp Week 2 The social role of religions Session 2.1 Paganism vs Monotheism Presentation #1: The different types of Islam. Blog post #1 due. Methodology (2): What makes a convincing case study? Required Reading : Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism, uploaded selection. Session 2.2 Religion as a function: secular religions Presentation #2: Schisms in the Christian Church. Case Study #1: Define functionalism. Quiz #0. Required reading : Gentile, Emilio. Fascism as a Political Religion, p Week 3 Religions and the Modern self Session 3.1 Reason vs Religion Guest speaker: Anaël Levy. For a professional profile of Anaël, see Case study #2: Why was Spinoza excommunicated? Session 3.2 Christianity and individualism Presentation #3: How is the Spirit of Capitalism rooted in The Reformation? Case study #3: Blaise Pascal s wager. Blog post #2. Quiz #1. Required reading : Luther s Statement in Worms: (1 page) Session 3.3 Modernity and the reinvention of the Self Presentation #4: The appeal of Buddhism for Western civilization. Field trip #1 : Faith and official religions of the Parisians: a spiritual & political walk through Paris. We will leave from the CIEE Global Institute.

6 Required reading: Giddens, Anthony. Marx, Weber, and the Development of Capitalism," p Week 4 Religions and the Nation-State Session 4.1 Gender and religion Case Study #4: Mary, a feminine or a feminist figure in monotheism? Case Study #5: The figure of Lilith. Blog post #3. Methodology (3): American essay vs French dissertation. Required reading: Asad, Talal. Thinking about the Secular Body, Pain, and Liberal Politics. pp Session 4.2 Religions and Nationalism Presentation #5: Nationalism vs Patriotism. Case Study #6 : What is Zionism? Quiz #2. Required reading : Judt, Tony, Israel, The alternative, NY review of Books, 23/10/2003: (about 3 p.). Session 4.3 Field trip Case Study #7: Why Is France called the eldest daughter of the Church? Field trip #2: Musée National de l Histoire de l Immigration, temporary exhibition Persona Grata. Week 5 Religion and violence Session 5.1 Violence: the original sin of monotheism? Case Study #8 : What is iconoclasm? Blog post #4. Film: Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008, 90 min). Required Reading : Bousek, Daniel. Polemics in the Age of Religious Persecutions: Maimonides Attitude Towards Islam, p Session 5.2 Colonialism and religions Case Study #9: Define Orientalism.

7 Quiz #3. Session 5.3 Terrorism and religions Case Study #10 : The Inquisition. Presentation #6 : ISIS, a regular theocracy? Required reading : Derrida, Jacques. Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues with Jürgen Habermas (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Extract. Week 6 Religion and Toleration Session 1 Multiculturalism and Religions Case Study #11 : The Canadian model of multiculturalism. Blog Post #5. Methodology (5): Review session for the final exam. Session 2 Renewals of Toleration Final Exam. Required reading : Romilly, Jean-Edme. Tolerance, Encyclopedia (1751) (2 pages): tolerance?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=tolerance Session 3 The French Model of Laïcité Course evaluations to complete. Required reading: Baubérot, Jean, Laïcité and the challenge of Republicanism, Modern Contemporary France ( ), vol.17, no2. Course Materials Week 1. Bataille, Georges. Inner Experience (1988; Albany: University of New York, 2014) pp Casanova, José. The Secular and Secularisms, Social Research 76(4), p De Certeau, Michel, The Mystic Fable, Volume One: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995). Gauchet, Marcel, The Disenchantment of the World: A Political History of Religion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997). James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902; Classics, Library of America, 2010).

8 Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007). Week 2 Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism (1937; Vintage). Uploaded selection. Gentile, Emilio. Fascism as a Political Religion, Journal of Contemporary History, 25.2/3 (May - June 1990). Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1915). Geertz, Clifford. Religion as a Cultural System, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (London: Fontana Press, 1973). Voegelin, Eric. The New Science of Politics (1987). Veyne, Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths? An Essay on Constitutive Imagination (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1988). Beiner, Ronald Steven. Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Week 3 Luther s Statement in Worms: Giddens, Anthony. "Marx, Weber, and the Development of Capitalism," Sociology, vol. 4, no. 3 (September 1970), p Badiou, Alain. Saint Paul: the Foundation of Universalism (Stanford University Press, 2003). Hesse, Hermann. Siddharta (Mass Market Paperback). Kamenetz, Rodger. The Jew in the Lotus (Harper One, 1995). Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Norton Critical Editions, 2009), extract. Website Religion and Gender: Week 4 Asad, Talal. Thinking about the Secular Body, Pain, and Liberal Politics. Words: Religious Language Matters, edited by Ernst Van Den Hemel. Judt, Tony, Israel, The alternative, NY review of Books, 23/10/2003 : Brague, Rémi. The Law of God (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 2007). Gros, Frédéric. States of Violence: An Essay on the End of War (Seagull Books, 2010). Ibenwa, C.N. Religion and Nation Building: A Critical Analysis, International Journal of African Society Cultures and Traditions, vol. 1, no. 2.

9 Week 5 Bousek, Daniel. Polemics in the Age of Religious Persecutions: Maimonides Attitude Towards Islam, Asian and African Studies, p , vol. 20, no1, Derrida, Jacques. Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues with Jürgen Habermas (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Extract. Bruce, Steve. Politics and Religion (Oxford: Polity Press, 2003). Cavanaugh, William. The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). Benjamin, Walter. Critique of violence, in Reflections (New York : Schocken, 1937). Kepel, Gilles. The Roots of Radical Islam (London: Saqi Books, 2005). Roy, Olivier. Secularism Confronts Islam (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). Week 6 Romilly, Jean-Edme. Tolerance, Encyclopedia (1751) : tolerance?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=tolerance Baubérot, Jean, Laïcité and the challenge of Republicanism, Modern Contemporary France ( ), vol.17, no2. Habermas, Jürgen. On the Relation between the Secular Liberal State and Religion, Political Theologies: Public Religions in a Post-Secular World, ed. Hent de Vries, Lawrence E. Sullivan (Fordham University Press, 2008). Lessing, Theodor. Nathan the Wise (1779): Locke, John. A Letter concerning Toleration (1689): Walzer, Michael. On Toleration (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997). Academic Integrity CIEE subscribes to standard U.S. norms requiring that students exhibit the highest standards regarding academic honesty. Cheating and plagiarism in any course assignment or exam will not be tolerated and may result in a student failing the course or being expelled from the program. Standards of honesty and norms governing originality of work differ significantly from country to country. We expect students to adhere to both the U.S.

10 American norms and the local norms, and in the case of conflict between the two, the more stringent of the two will prevail. Three important principles are considered when defining and demanding academic honesty. These are related to the fundamental tenet that one should not present the work of another person as one s own. The first principle is that final examinations, quizzes and other tests must be done without assistance from another person, without looking at or otherwise consulting the work of another person, and without access to notes, books, or other pertinent information (unless the professor has explicitly announced that a particular test is to be taken on an open book basis). The second principle applies specifically to course work: the same written paper may not be submitted in more than one course. Nor may a paper submitted at another educational institution be submitted to satisfy a paper requirement while studying abroad. The third principle is that any use of the work of another person must be documented in any written papers, oral presentations, or other assignments carried out in connection with a course. This usually is done when quoting directly from another s work or including information told to you by another person (the general rule in U.S. higher education is that if you have to look something up, or if you learned it recently either by reading or hearing something, you have to document it). There are three levels of escalation establishing the seriousness of the plagiarism in question. Level one plagiarism: minor or unintentional plagiarism; leading to passable grade/failing grade on the assignment, depending on perspective of lecturer. No opportunity for resubmission. Level two plagiarism: significant plagiarism, but potentially due to poor referencing rather than intellectual property theft. This leads to a failing grade (potentially zero points) on the assignment. No opportunity for resubmission. Level three plagiarism: significant plagiarism, requiring investigation by the Center/Resident/Academic Director, and subsequent disciplinary panel. Faculty will report any suspected circumstances of plagiarism to the Center/Resident/Academic Director immediately. Faculty can, if they deem it appropriate,

11 require students to submit the Plagiarism Declaration Form (Appendix D) with each assignment as it is submitted. In any case where Academic Honesty is in question while the student is still onsite at the program, and will impact the grade for the assignment in question, the CIEE Academic Honesty form (Appendix E) will be completed by the Center/Resident/Academic Director, signed by the professor, delivered to the student for signature and added to the student s permanent records. For any Level three violation, or repeated lower level violation, the Center/Resident/Academic Director will inform the student s home institution of the infraction and subsequent penalty.